One of the golf instructional videos in the Members Vault is called the “Shaft Plane Drill”. This video teaches you a drill to help get your golf swing starting up on plane rather than just going inside and too shallow early on in the takeaway. This is something that Pat has always struggled with so today I set out to fix it and the results were terrific. Using the Shaft Plane Drill as laid in the video, Pat made immediate improvements in his takeaway and his ball striking become much more consistent right away. Below you can see the progress he made in his swing in just a few minutes.

Notice how the club doesn’t get inside his hands as he takes the club back. This caused all sorts of trouble in his swing that he won’t have to fight anymore once he gets the club going back more on plane rather than hinging his right wrist back, pulling the club inside his hands. To learn the Shaft Plane Drill for yourself and improve your swing plane, visit the Member’s Vault.

Played 18 holes today with Chiuck instead of having a range lesson.  I need to get a handicap for future tournaments, so we started on that today.  I hadn’t been able to practice in three days at all because I was house searching for a place to live in the next few years.  I have to move out of my school apartment at the end of December.  Finally found a place after hours of looking, but it took it’s toll on the practice time. 

 For some reason during our round I was real tense, my arms were shaking a bit everytime I addressed the ball.  The front nine was actually pretty good, started off with a birdie on a Par 5, but had some bad holes and eventually shot 38.  We stopped for some food at the turn and after that I stopped shaking so much.  Apparently the shaking helped though because the back nine was abysmal.  I missed every green, had some course management mistakes that cost me, and over all felt I just couldn’t do anything right.  I shot a 43 for a total of 81, which is definitely not a score I felt like I should of shot after the past week of improvements.  I felt like during the round I wasn’t getting a good turn behind the ball and my swing was getting long and slow.  Therefore I hit some pretty weak shots.  I hit some pretty poor chips as well on the back nine and couldn’t get up and down to save my life.  I stayed after the round for another 45 minutes working on the chipping.  Tomorrow will be better, I look forward to it.

While it didn’t break any course records, I am very proud of Pat’s very rapid progress since we hit the road running hard about two weeks ago. In this time, we’ve made significant changes to his golf swing and he’s worked hard at implementing them. During our regular 9 hole playing lesson yesterday, Pat shot 1 over with only one bogey. The bogey he made was dumb one and he was promptly corrected for it! He had to chip out of the woods on the first hole and chipped all the way across the fairway and put himself on a downhill, sidehill lie when he only needed to chip it about 15 yards to a nice flat spot that was closer to the hole. The rest of the day he got up and down very well to save par and hit several Tour caliber shots into greens. He hit several iron shots to within 10 feet and missed all the birdie putts.

I was particularly excited about his ball striking with his irons. It has come a long way in a very short period of time. His ball flight has really improved and his consistency is 100% better over just 2 weeks ago. You couldn’t expect or ask for anything more. Here’s a pic that demonstrates his recent progress. Normally, Pat would get his well out in front of the ball at impact and he would generally block it from here. He now stays behind the ball much better and gets into a very good impact position. He still has a tendency to get out in front, but when he doesn’t he hits it very well.

I’ve been making a lot of progress lately that I have been very happy with.  Using my core in the golf swing has completely changed how I swing the golf club.  My contact has improved and my distance has gone up a few yards with the irons.  I have trouble bringing the same swing to my fairway woods and driver so I haven’t seen the same results with those.

After playing well with Chuck yesterday shooting 1 over par for 9 holes I was excited to get out today to play.  During our session on the range Chuck was having me stand a little farther away from the ball at address with the driver.  He was showing me what it looked like on tape and I caught a glimpse of my full swing.  I wanted to vomit to say the least.  My plane was so inside and flat and got across the line at the top.  When we went out to play today, I was so worried about my plane and swing path that I forgot how to actually play.  I was striking the ball solid when I wasn’t worried about how my swing looked, and the minute I began to worry about it is the same minute my game started to suck.  The defining moment of the round we played today was on the second hole where the last place you can go is right and I was so wrapped up in my swing plane that I sliced the ball 50 yards right into a pond.

After the lesson I asked Chuck to never show me a video of my swing again.  It just messes with my mind.  I will leave the swing analysis to him.  This round just helps me to see what I really need to work on in the next few years, my HEAD!

Today I had Pat working on a drill I made up that I call the “9 O’clock Drill”. It is simple, as they all should be, but very productive for the things Pat needs immediate work on. In essence, it involves swinging the left arm to the 9 o’clock position in the backswing and then hitting the ball with full power. In order to hit the ball any distance, you must very aggressively and dynamically load the muscles in your hips and core on the way back because making such a short swing doesn’t give the time to build up a lot of momentum. This forces Pat to learn how to use his core and other big muscles to generate clubhead speed in a very explosive manner.

When doing this drill, it’s very common for the golfer to go past 9 o’clock and it takes focus and discipline to reign it in. But in the end, I’m not really concerned with that at all because the feeling of loading up and releasing the stored up energy is the point of the exercise, not the position of the arms. What generally happens is the golfer ends up swinging to about 10:30, which is perfect for a full swing and this is exactly what Pat did. To him, it feels incredibly short and compact, which is a good feeling to begin developing since his swing has always tended to be too long and lazy going back. His swing now has a much quicker pace to it overall and is much more dynamic. He hit some great shots yesterday, a 190 yard 5 iron to about 8 feet on a par three comes to mind. When doing this correctly, the ball should really hiss off the face and come out very penetrating. If you struggle with a loose, high ball flight, give this drill a try.

Today I had my first workout with Andrea Doddato, and she really kicked my butt!  We focused on a ton of core exercises, which in the end added up to about 150 reps of just core workouts.  It was rough, especially since I haven’t worked out in so long.  It’s exactly what I need though.  In the next few workouts with her we are going to be focusing on improving core strength and getting more flexibility in my lower body.  I have good flexibility in my upper body, but I have very limited flexibility in my hamstrings, thighs, and hip flexors.  Stabilizing those ares will really help me throughout the golf swing as my lower body likes to turn to much.  I lose a lot of power because I don’t get any resistance between my upper and lower halfs because my hips turn so much and it also is hard to get behind the ball on the backswing.

Todays lesson with Chuck was almost an extension of Andrea’s workout.  We focused on using my core throughout the entire swing, which will give me a little more power and shorten up my swing for more control.  It was tough to bring to the course, but I still hit some good shots here and there.  Over time I will get more comfortable with it and should see some good results.

This is what I will be going through to get myself to the PGA Tour.

1) All around golf training – This includes swing mechanics, short game, putting, so on and so forth.  The majority of this will be done at Windermere Country Club in Orlando and all will be done with Chuck.

2) Mental Game – The majority of this will be done with Chuck or through books he asks me to read.  Most of it will be intertwined with lessons on the range and on the course.

3) Physical Training – I will be working with Andrea Doddato at the Cardio Club in Orlando.  I will be working with her 2 days a week and we will set up a schedule where I can work out on my own time.  Her training method is very golf specific.

4) Tournament Experience and Progression – Seeing as my ultimate goal is to play in the most competitive tournaments in the world, I will need to get tournament experience under my belt.  In the next few months I will begin to enter Moonlight Tour events locally just to get my feet wet.  As I improve I will progress into the Hooter’s Tour, hopefully playing in their Winter Series in 2007.  From there we will see how it goes.

5) Equipment – To play good golf, you have to be comfortable with your equipment and have it fitted to YOU.  I will be working hard to get into all the right equipment for me.

Finally, I want to tell you where, in my general golf game, I believe I need to improve.

1) Tempo/Athleticism/Dynamicism – From being overly mechanical and having some swing faults I lack athleticism in my swing.  This is something I need to conquer or my whole game will suffer.

2) Swing Path – My path has improved since seeing Chuck, but it’s still not where I want it to be.  I still bring the club inside and have the tendency to get very steep on the way down.  Chuck teaches the majority of his students the One Plane or Rotary Swing, but with my body makeup and build, I am more suited for a more upright swing.  We are going for more of a “hybrid” of the one and two plane swings.  I am not that concerned with where I am at the top of my swing, but I don’t want the club getting inside my hands on the way back.  This has been a real problem for me for quite some time, and while it has improved, it needs to get better.

3) Short game – My chipping is just OK these days.  I can hit the basic shots, but when confronted with different lies and types of shots I struggle.  Improvement in this area will come more from playing everyday than from sitting on the chipping green.  My putting has improved tremendously over the past few months.  I have a smoother stroke than I used to and my distance control is getting better.  There’s always room for improvement though.

4) Distance – I have never been a long player, but since becoming so mechanical I have lost some major distance.  I used to carry my driver in the 265-270 range and a normal 5 iron was 190.  For the past year I am lucky if I get a driver to carry more than 240 yards and a 5 iron more than 175 – 180.  Hopefully through physical training and swing improvements I can gain some distance.  I simply won’t be able to compete on 7400 yard courses hitting the ball 240 off the tee.

5) Mental Game – This is where I truely struggle.  Not necessarily that I get mad at myself, which I do, but that’s not that biggest problem.  I have so much running through my head that it’s hard to make good swings and get the ball in the hole.  This is something Chuck and I will be working on very hard everyday.

Hey guys, I’m Pat McLamb.  I’m 21 years old from Fairfax, VA.  Where should I start?  I began playing golf in April of 2004 at the age of 19, solely because my girlfriend played and I thought it was approproate that I be able to beat her.  She’s the #1 golfer at Mercer University, so I had my hands full.  Literally from the first terrible shot I hit, I was hooked, I didn’t even need a solid one to bring me back.  Before Chuck I had never had any real training besides the knowledge my dad could give me or that I could read in magazines and hear on the golf channel.  As you well know, reading magazines and listening to the TV isn’t the best place to go if you really want to improve.  The first round I played I shot 94.  Within six months I was in the low eighties with the occasional high seventies thrown in there.  And then came the downfall of my game.  I became so mechanical that I quickly started to struggle.  This is something that Chuck and I are working on and something I will probably be working on my whole career. 

In September of 2005 I decided to leave the 4 year college I was at (Virginia Tech) to pursue a career in golf at the Professional Golfers Career College in Orlando, FL.  At this time I admit being a Pro Golfer was always a pipe dream, but I never really thought I could do it, so I allowed myself to think I was going to be a Club Pro or something of that nature. 

Four things helped my decide that I was going to try and make it as a professional:

First – The overwhelming support of my family, especially my dad.  He is the one person who never had any doubts that I could do this as long as I put in the work.  He’s supporting me through the entire process and I am thankful for that.

Second – The support of my Girlfriend, Alex.  She is behind me every step of the way.  Not only that, she keeps me very grounded and is very matter-of-fact about the chances I knowingly have of becoming pro, which I love.  I need someone to keep me grounded.  Also, without her I am not sure I would even be golfing today.

Third – The time and effort Chuck is putting into this process.  Knowing Chuck like I do, I know that if he didn’t believe this was possible, he wouldn’t be doing it.  It will be taking up a lot of his time.  Also, I know that he will be very straightforward with me, telling me if I am slacking off or trying to hard.  I look forward to working with him for quite a while.

Fourth – The most important of them all, my extreme desire to make this my career.  That’s what it comes down to guys, you can have all the resources in the world, but if you don’t want to be a professional, then you won’t become a professional.  All I can see myself doing for a living is playing golf.  I always want to be on the course, on the range, on the putting green getting better.  I want to go out and kick everyone’s butt in tournaments.  I don’t care about fame, and money isn’t that big of a deal to me either, I just want to win tournaments and smack that little ball around the course in as few strokes as I can. 

At the moment, I know I am not very good, if I went out to a mini-tour event I would get beat into the ground.  With training I believe I can get better everyday and work my way up in the golf ranks.  I realize this could take years, and even then that it might not really happen.  That’s all part of the process though.  I plan on keeping all of you updated on my progress over the next few years and hope you enjoy reading about my experience.  Thanks for reading guys.Š

We’ve all hit that perfect shot or played that career round where everything felt so easy and wondered, “What if?” What if I had an instructor to help build my swing and a physical trainer to help build my body? What if I had the time and the resources to put into practicing and playing full time? What if I had the perfect equipment setup for my swing? What if?

While you may not have the opportunity to ever “give it a go,” you can atleast live vicariously through one of my students, Patrick McLamb. Pat is a 21 year old 10 handicap who has only been playing golf 2 years. I’ve been working with Pat for a few months a few times per month and recently he has decided to go through the rigors of trying to make it as a professional golfer. Over the coming months, you will be able to follow Pat’s progress, trials and triumphs, all online at www.OnePlaneGolfSwing.com/patsquest. Videos of his swing and lessons will be posted so you can see what he’s working on and watch as he improves and gets one step closer to achieving his dreams of one day playing on the PGA Tour.

…Well, there are some options here:

-The Putt.  We all know you drive for show, but putt for dough.  Dave Pelz says that the 50-50 line for a putt is somewhere around six feet out.  And even a three-footer isn’t automatic.  So, if a putt is longer than three feet, success looks like leaving it inside a 3-foot radius circle.  Hmmmn.  

But, there’s the drive:

-In a moment of rare clarity I muttered something once that “It’s hard to scream with the Eagles and chirp with the Birdies when you’re in the woods scratching with the squirrels looking for your tee ball.”   I think I was taking stock of Chigger bites after attempting to find Robin Hood, err…tee balls all day. 

-Of course, there’s the approach.  But, it turns out the pros miss a third of those on average.  Nonetheless, it’s hard to make Birdie putts from the bunker.

-It can’t be a sand shot…how many of those can one have in a round?  Ok, how many SHOULD one have in a round.  More than four? 

-Which leads to my candidate: The Chip.

I had a good round the other day on a tough tract in the rain and the wind and on purely saturated ground.  Greens were still fast, though.  Hit only 5 greens and shot an 80.  Six out of eight chips were gimmes.  27 putts.  It literally made the round.  75% is the number I see for Tour Pros on those shots.  I’m not sure I’ve ever had 75% success on chips before…but, I could get used to it in a hurry. 

In fact, I’ve been a dreadful chipper of the ball for years.  So much so that I talked Chuck into using me for the guinea pig at the Williamsburg Clinic.  It’s slowly gotten better.  But, last Saturday was the breakthrough…or at least a welcomed spike in performance. 

The approach was simple: “See the shot, make sure to turn.  (as opposed to wristing it)”  I wouldn’t chip it until I ‘saw’ it.  The two I missed were because the ball reacted differently than I thought it would, but the ball and flight were right where I wanted them.  That’s golf.  I made notes in case I run into those shots again. 

One of Chuck’s videos talks about a “no-brainer chip.”  I never had one of those until last Saturday.  Literally “No-brain.”  See it, Chip it…score.  Just like putting.

My very eclectic team played in an annual charity “Best Ball” tournament last Friday.  This is a highlight of the golf year as it’s always a lot of fun.  Last year we came in third place out of 36 teams.  This year, we were going to win. 

Tropical Storm Ernesto had been through the area a week before and left us with almost a foot of rain.  This course, which is one of the few Bermuda tracts up this way was long and waterlogged.  And, as seems to be the case more and more up this way, the greens were not good at all.  Summer seems to tear up the Bent greens with fungus. 

The team drove beautifully all day, but the approach shots were not up to snuff.  Inevitably the balls were coming up short.  I’d put the ball back a bit, but it didn’t seem to help. 

In retrospect, what I should have done was try to “Shallow” out the swing into more of a sweep.  What I ended up doing was taking enormous Ian Woosnan-sized doormat divots while watching ballon balls settle on the front apron.  Very discouraging.  Tee balls on par 3′s were fine.  It was out of that wet, long bermuda fairway that was giving me and the team fits. 

  Nonetheless, the team made a fair jag of birdies.  The hardest part of a Super Ball tournament is that they last forever.  At the five-hour mark, after an early wake up and a long drive, the team just lost all its energy.  We could feel it and commented on it, but energy bars didn’t seem to fix the issue. 

  So we limped home with only one birdie on the last five holes.  62, which tied for third, two strokes off the lead.  Of course, we “Lost on the Card” as they say when you lose a tie-breaker.  It was a quiet drive home.  I thought the others were stewing until I looked around and saw they were all asleep.  Beers on the deck finished the afternoon.  All in all, a good day.  “Two lousy putts” was a common refrain. 

  But, we’ll get ‘em next year.  You can put that in the book!